Device fails to operate, display illumination appears on VGA port following SATA SSD removal
Device fails to operate, display illumination appears on VGA port following SATA SSD removal
I was working on a clean Windows setup and transferring an SSD from my primary machine to a secondary one. Before installing, I removed the SATA data cable from the SSD just to confirm it wasn’t mistakenly selected. Once Windows was running and programs were installed, I powered down the system and unplugged the SATA cable from the SSD. After rebooting, the computer wouldn’t boot. The GPU was receiving power and both fans were spinning. The motherboard’s VGA diagnostic light was on. I followed these steps: reinserted the GPU and its power connectors, tried a second GPU (RX580), placed it in a different PCIe slot (the 3080 didn’t fit elsewhere), and rechecked the monitor connection using an alternate monitor CPU. I tested with AMD R5 2600 MB B450 gaming card, MIS A850GF PSU, and EVGA FTW 3 12GB RTX3080. I then tried the RX580 in another PC card. I’m planning to strip everything down tomorrow and need advice on what might be causing the issue or how to fix it.
Have you verified that all power connectors are securely attached to the hard drive? PCs can boot without a hard drive. Consider resetting the CMOS. When you removed the SSD, make sure it wasn’t selected. Use the Boot menu shortcut instead of BIOS to adjust boot priority. You can switch installation to a USB drive, which may move it higher in your boot order afterward. Try disconnecting any other USB devices besides the mouse and keyboard to see if it improves performance. Also, reinsert your RAM and test the system.
All systems are now disconnected and reconnected. The CMOS battery was replaced, and the system is starting from an NVME SSD instead of a HDD. I’m unable to access any menu interface—no video output or anything visible.